World of Sport

‘I got garden chairs instead of Olympic tickets’

Sir Chris Hoy has admitted that his father-in-law thought he had purchased tickets to watch him at the Olympics but ended up paying for garden furniture instead.

Hoy's entire family applied for tickets to try and watch the three-time gold medal winning cyclist in action at London 2012 but knew their hopes were slim given the limited 6,000 capacity of the velodrome.

Hoy's father in-law Bob Kemp thought he had struck lucky though when his bank account was debited the amount needed to cover the tickets, leading him to presume that he was successful in his application.

"He sent out emails to the rest of the family letting everyone know of his good luck. He started planning on the London trip. We were all pleased."

However, Kemp received a nasty surprise when he, like 1.2 million others, got an email for the London 2012 Olympic Games organisers saying his application was unsuccessful.

When he checked his account again he noticed that the money had been debited by Olympian Seats - an outdoor garden store where Kemp had bought new garden furniture on the same day as money was being debited by Olympic organisers.

"He got four seats alright, four garden seats," Hoy joked.

As an athlete Hoy is entitled to two tickets for the Games which he has to pay for himself.

"It is good that cycling is so popular, and while the two tickets are great, it is a chance for my parents and wife to see me, but it makes it hard for extended family and friends and people who have supported you for your whole career to be there," he said.

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